Canola Research Gets Funding: Yesss!!

http://http://www.topcropmanager.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4186

The link is a posted report on the status of funding for canola research.

Our farm has always done a lot of work with canola. Canola brings in good income for farms which makes it dear to the hearts of our producers.

In the last 10 yrs a lot of new varieties have hit the market and promoting those varieties has oppened the door for South East Research Farm to do a lot of commercial demonstratiions

We've also done projects for Saskatchewan Canola Development Council (SCDC)

Research Technician Jobs for the Summer

The Farm is starting the search for our Summer Techs. We usually hire two Ag students to help with planting and data collection. Its a pretty good job. You are outside and we don't work you to hard. It's something new every day and I give them a lot of freedom to handle the work flow.

South East Research Farm Job Positions
2 Summer Research Technicians


The South East Research Farm Inc. (SERF) is a non-profit organization that specializes in agricultural research. SERF is part of the provincial AgriARM network of Saskatchewan and is located in Redvers, SK in the south east corner of the province. The research farm consists of 260 acres, where 140 acres are for grain and forage research and a 120 acres is developed into a rotational grazing project.

Job Description:
As the research technician, you will be required to have a diverse set of skills and knowledge. The skills and knowledge required for this position will be gained through a degree/diploma in Agriculture or a related discipline. This position will require you to take part in all aspects of the research farm which include: seeding, spraying, harvest, sample analysis, data collection, soil sampling, report writing, working with industry and attending agriculture events and workshops. Closing Date Dec 20, 2008

Wage Range - $14 to $16 per hr. (depending on qualifications)

Specific Skills:
· Able to perform mathematical and statistical analysis
· Able to operate farm equipment
· Comfortable with public/speaking at presentations
· Diligent and Meticulous
· Ability to work independent/team

Knowledge:
· Must know Microsoft Products
· Knowledge of Agriculture Plot Research
· Knowledge of pesticide/herbicide application
· Knowledge of research methodologies

To apply for this position send your resume:

Garth Johnston, Farm Manager
Box 129
Redvers, SK
S0C 2H0
Ph. 306-452-3161
Cel. 306-452-7253
Or email:
serf@sasktel.net
Fax: 306-452-3645

Getting Back At It

After neglecting our blog I decided to put it back to work. The research farm has gone through some changes with it's business model. The changes made it hard to keep up with the blog, but I think now with things settled down I can put some time into it. I will post information on our trials and demo's along with interesting information from the web.

Stay tuned and wish me luck

ESN Fertilizer: Delayed Release Nitrogen System

The Farm did some work in 2005 on this system of delayed release N. Agrium gave us a tonne of it to work with for the spring.

I can't say I'm an expert on this product.

One thing that concerns me with this is the way some dealers are marketing it. I do see an excellent fit for the farm, but some sales people are going overboard with the claims.

As always "buyer beware"

Just to "fyi'. The basic concept is a coating to delay nutrient release or loss. The market should be fall and winter seeded crops, where there is an excellent fit. ( 34-0-0 use to fill the niche here, till people started making bombs with it). Other uses I see could be some fall applications situations or a blend in the spring to increase protein with late release. These should work and make sense to me.

But I am hearing sales pitches about reducing leaching and delaying release to flowering to increase yield. I would check with an unbiased agronomist about those claims. You will not see a lot of nitrogen leaching out of the root zone on the Canadian prairies. It can happen but we spent more time praying for rain here than getting to much (well weather has been pretty crazy maybe pray carefully). Delayed N release should improve protein in wheat but most yield is promoted with nitrogen available in the early stages of crop development.

Good got that off my chest. I can't be the "fertilizer police" and ESN fertilizer will be a useful product, but it's always disappointing when a marketer oversells or does not understand his product

Wind Turbines.

Midwest farmers are tilting at wind turbines - Los Angeles Times



I drove through the St. Leon wind turbine farm this weekend. (My son was playing hockey in Morden. His team finished with a bronze) Very impressive, I have not been there in three or so years.



We are considering putting something up at the farm, but we lack the capital (so far).



According to a spread sheet I downloaded our farm's best option would be to wind generate about 1/2 our power need.

I will post the address but I had to adjust my browser to let them track some of my address data to access the site. It's an interesting tool

http://www.smallwindenergy.ca/calculator/wind.php?turbine=4&page=update&costkwh=0.0863&outofrange=0&wind=6&wind_mini=5&wind_small=5.5&wind_medium=5.5&wind_large=5.5&type=1kW